Cannon Fire and Orchid Petals
by Seaside Fantasies
Summary: A collection of stories on the one and only Lord Shen, from his birth to his death. May contain spoilers from Vengeful Love.
1. Birth

**Note:** This fanfic is of Shen's _whole_ life, so yes, he probably is going to be dying at some point in this fanfic... likely from old age. (Consider yourselves lucky that I was feeling generous about his fate, mwahaha. *shot*) Also, this is going to be quite a long fanfic- I already have twenty-plus chapters in mind- so if you're not a fan of long fanfiction, you might not want to read this story.

These stories will have some depressing/kinda dark material as well, so if you're not a fan of that stuff, I'll tell you which chapters to avoid. Other than that, have fun reading. :)

* * *

><p>Gongmen City. Located right in the center of Chinese countryside, it was a sparkling jewel in the otherwise drab landscape. Its palace, Tower of Sacred Flame, loomed far above the skyline, giving a distinguishing landmark to tell it apart from the surrounding towns. The peacock family who lived there, Lord Fu and Lady Hai, had ruled over the city for many years now, bringing peace and prosperity to the citizens who lived there, and all was happy. Yet, one thing was missing- an heir to the throne.<p>

An heir- a subject that few of the townspeople thought about, let alone cared to dwell on. After all, their lord and lady had run the city quite efficiently for the past few years, so why worry about whether or not they would be able to produce offspring before they passed into the void? Yet, as much as everyone liked to deny it, the lord and his wife were getting on in years, and time was slowly but surely running out for them to choose, or produce, someone to take over the throne.

Soon, word got out that an egg had been produced. Some worried for Lady Hai- after all, all of her past offspring had either died in the stages of development or had wasted away in their early years. The little fellow inside the egg, however, seemed determined to hang onto life as long as possible, and the egg had been scheduled to hatch about a week from now- and everybody waited anxiously for the news that their heir had been born.

Life, though, has a funny way of carrying out its everyday deeds, and it was not about to bless the royal family with a hatchling that was born on time. So it was that, while Lady Hai was sitting by the makeshift incubator, dreaming of what great deeds her hatchling would do, that she was bewildered at the soft sound of pecking within the egg.

"I… I think it's hatching, dear." she pronounced to her husband, who was standing silently in the corner of the room.

"That's impossible- the egg wasn't set to hatch until a week from now!" Lord Fu exclaimed, rushing over and beckoning to a rabbit servant. "Hurry and fetch the town physician." The rabbit was only too happy to do so.

The physician, a portly antelope named Bo, came running in soon after, panting slightly. Lord Fu eyed him up distastefully- he'd never liked the old healer(maybe it was because of his rather unorthodox methods of healing)- but if he could help his offspring, it would be all for the better. "So, what seems to be the problem?"

"Our egg is hatching a week early, is what the problem is." The lord hissed, trying his best to contain his temper and evidently failing.

"There shouldn't be any complications… however, I'll watch the birth, just to be sure." Bo said, leaning closer to the egg that already had microscopic cracks on it. "The little guy seems to be doing quite well so far."

Agonizing minutes passed, during which the crack in the egg grew larger and larger and more people gathered to witness the hatching. Finally, after what seemed like eons of waiting, the tiny hatchling was finally revealed from the egg, landing with a small thump onto the tiny rags surrounding the nest. Bo immediately began to clean the egg fluid off of the tiny little bird with a small rag, beaming up at the lord and lady. "Well, you have a… young boy…"

"Is everything all right?" Lady Hai spoke up, noticing how the antelope's voice seemed to trail off at the end of his sentence.

"Well, yes, I just mean.. his coloration…" Bo was interrupted by Lord Fu snatching the chick out of his arms, and everyone sat in shocked silence at the first glimpse of the new heir.

He was _white_. Peacocks were not supposed to be white, they were supposed to be blue, green, or even brown on occasion. Yet here this chick was, without a speck of another color in his feathers- he almost looked like a little ghost or spirit of sorts. Even more shocking were his eyes- they were red. Crimson red, the color of bad luck and evil. The chick would have been extremely cute otherwise- the way he innocently blinked up at the stupefied audience, letting out small, curious chirps at odd intervals.

"Look at him, he's white…"

"-peacocks aren't supposed to be white.."

"It's a bad omen. Just look at the color scheme.."

As everyone stood there watching the chick, a sudden realization came to mind- maybe having an heir to the throne wasn't such a marvelous happening after all.

* * *

><p>"What shall we call him, dear?" Lady Hai spoke up from where she was cuddling the small, still nameless chick in her arms, smiling down at him while trying her best to hide her fear for her little son. Albinism, they had called it, a term she had only read of in the few medical scrolls that she browsed through every now and then. For hatching almost a week early, he seemed healthy, but she had already heard him utter a few small coughs every now and then.<p>

"My parents always said that they would have liked someone in their family to be named Shen… so that is what we will call him."

Shen. The name seemed to have an almost mystical quality about it- not to mention that 'Lord Shen' did have a nice ring to it. "Shen it is." the lady spoke, beaming down at the little hatchling. "My little Shen…"

This was, as the townspeople would learn many,_ many _years later, the beginning of the end.

The lord and lady, as it turned out, didn't have a single clue as to how to deal with such a sickly hatchling. Shen was barely even a month old, and already he'd been taken to the physician twice to treat his irregular coughing fits. At night, he'd keep the servants awake for hours at a time, crying and moving about in his sleep, and they would try their best to soothe him, even though they knew that nothing they did was going to comfort the little chick.

Lady Hai, of course, was terrified for Shen's wellbeing- this was her son, after all, and she was determined to take care of him to the best of her abilities. But, as experienced as the lady was in childcare, she could find no explanation for Shen's bouts of sickness. It was decided, after some debate, that the heir would be turned over to the family soothsayer, which the lady was somewhat irritated about- the soothsayer, as she pointed out countless times to her husband, was far from qualified to be taking care of an infant.

The decision was made, however, and little Shen was handed over to the goat, who smiled warmly down at him as he snuggled into the fold of her robe. "Ah, little Shen… you and I will get along just fine, I see."

If only she knew what would come in the years to follow.

All that little Shen saw through the first few months of his life was the soothsayer's face, accompanied with occasional glimpses of his parents, checking to see if he was all right- of course, his parents were, so far, complete strangers to him, so every time they came closer to his bed than was comfortable he'd let out little chirps of alarm and huddle under the blankets, letting out a small cough every now and then. The lord and lady were slightly unnerved by this, but they contented themselves with the fact that Shen had to warm up to them eventually.

The soothsayer took great care to make sure that Shen was both comfortable and away from sickness- the goat knew a bit about healing, but she was mostly limited to small cuts, bruises, and sore throats. She actually learned more from the constant visits of the town physician then just reading medical scrolls. She got great enjoyment out of just watching the tiny hatchling that was in her care, though- he was delightfully skiddish most of the time, clinging tightly to her robes whenever the tiniest little noise would ring out, looking up at her with adoring red eyes. She didn't care what anybody said, his colors were good, and one day he'd prove everyone wrong, put to rest all of the rumors that had sprung up around his birth.

Little did she know just how right that statement would be.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Aww, cute, baby Shen is cute. It said on the Wikipedia page that peacocks generally take twenty-eight days to hatch, so I was nice and made Shen hatch maybe a half-week to a week early... not sure how that would effect the hatchling's health, exactly, because I don't think there's a lot of things on anything being premature other than humans(then again, I think animals in the KFP universe age at the same time as humans)... eh, for now, just roll with it, okay?

This chapter is of Shen's birth, quite clearly. I'm going by reference on the Wiki page and all that... I think Shen's parents did try to care for him, but they just had no idea how much of a hassle it would be, so they turned him over to the soothsayer and stuffs. Please read and leave (hopefully kind) reviews! And yes, I am aware that this chapter is painfully short... the next one will be a lot longer, I promise.

Bo- wave  
>Fu- wealthy<br>Hai- sea


	2. Wolves

Months passed after Shen's hatching, during which he usually spent time with the soothsayer while his parents were off doing royal duties. The goat had been watching Shen all this time, seeing the boy grow up slowly but surely- his rather erratic growth spurts led to some moments in his childhood where he was almost delightfully awkward-looking, with his head too big for his body and his spindly little legs just barely managing to hold up his weak, sickly little frame.

As it turned out, Shen really hadn't mastered the art of walking upright just yet, and he'd often childishly totter about for a few steps before tripping over the tiny silk robe that his parents had purchased for him, landing with a comical 'huff' onto the floor before springing back up to try all over again. The soothsayer had to give it to him- for a kid, he certainly had tons of determination. She'd often watch him for hours on end, chuckling at the little chick's antics, the way his head would swivel around whenever he heard a noise in the background, curious chirps issuing from his beak-

She'd even, with the occasional assistance from his parents, taught him to talk by the time he was old enough to do so, and the lord and lady were quite pleased when he managed to actually master calling them Mama and Baba- though in a ridiculously high-pitched, garbling baby voice. He'd even taken up calling the goat "Na-na" (he hadn't quite mastered putting the syllables together just yet). But there was still one small problem with the chick's predicament.

He was still refusing to warm up to his parents, still clinging to her whenever they came around- it wasn't his fault, they were so much_ bigger_ than him, for the gods' sake- and as much as this habit both amused and slightly annoyed the soothsayer, she knew that sooner or later her young charge was going to have to learn some independence. She did, however, momentarily question herself about leaving Shen with complete strangers- after all, no one that she knew had even the slightest idea on how to care for a toddler, especially one as sickly as Shen.

All except for one couple- the alphas of the wolf guards that lived near the palace, Jin and Ning, who had recently had a small litter of pups, though only two had managed to survive. If anyone knew how to take care of a youngster, it was them. Lord Fu was none too happy about that decision- he'd never really liked the wolves, and the only reason that he was actually bothering to keep them around was that they were fairly experienced in the fighting field- but he went along with it nonetheless.

Unfortunately, Jin was in a fairly bad mood after a long and difficult scouting mission, and only Ning's gentle persuasion that they watch Shen for a few hours was enough to make him calm down. Almost as soon as the goat left, however, he narrowed his eyes and growled again.

"Remind me again why we actually have to watch this little fluff ball?"

"It'll be good for him to be around someone other than his parents and the soothsayer." Ning spoke up from where she was trying, with varying levels of success, to get the wolf pups to take their afternoon nap.

"Yeah, well, the only reason that I actually said yes is that, unlike you, I actually make an effort to stay on the lord and lady's good side." Jin hissed, glaring fiercely at the wall.

"What happened yesterday was not my fault." Ning muttered, sighing as the wolf pups finally settled down.

"Oh, yeah? While you were off flirting with that good-for-nothing yearling, I had to secure the city perimeter. Do you know just how _long_ it takes to secure the freaking perimeter of this filthy city?"

"You know, we really shouldn't be arguing around the kids." Ning stated flatly, gesturing to where Shen was staring up at the wolves, still mildly distraught over his nanny leaving him behind.

Yeah, sure, don't argue around the kid. Like the pathetic little thing could honestly understand half of the words that he was saying. Jin opened his mouth to deliver a stinging retort when he felt a sudden weight drape around his leg. "If that little brat is seriously doing what I think he's doing…"

Yep. Little Shen had curled himself around Jin's leg, smiling and cooing up at the canine. "Geee… doggieee..." he chirped, blissfully unaware of just how much danger he was in.

"I'm not a dog, kid, I'm a wolf. There's a difference…" Jin growled, baring his teeth down at the peacock in the hopes of scaring him into obedience. Shen's smile only seemed to grow wider at that point, if that was even possible- darn kid, he was so infuriatingly _cheerful_…

Lifting his leg, Jin raised the appendage in a kick, gently sliding the little chick to the floor, where he proceeded to toddle about and coo happily.

"Be careful with him! They said he gets sick often…" Ning fussed, rushing over to see if Shen was all right. To her immense relief, the only thing that seemed to be wrong was his occasional tripping over his own feet. She just wished that Jin would stop being such a total asshole towards the kid all because of a long and stressful day.

Hua, the oldest of the wolf pups, came from behind his mother to look at Shen. "'E looks funny…"

"Hua! Don't be rude." Ning scolded, looking with a smile down at the little ball of feathers who had conveniently found a moth floating around inside the small home, chasing after it with chirps of delight.

"'E does, he's all poofy.."

"It's because his feathers haven't quite grown in yet, dear." Ning said, perking her ears at Shen as the moth fluttered out of his tiny little talons, whimpering as his game was ended. "Jin, you gotta admit, he is kind of cute…"

"He's not cute, he's annoying and infuriating."

"Yeah, well, you weren't exactly a bundle of joy when you were younger, either." Ning retorted, snorting. "You almost impaled me the one time at weapons practice…"

"Thank you for the unwanted nostalgia…" Jin's sentence was cut off as Shen began to quietly wail in the background. "Oh, so now he's crying?" What the hell was _wrong _with this kid…

"He probably just misses his Nana… don't you, dear?" Ning said, as if Shen could honestly understand what she was getting across.

"Na-na…" The little bird sniffled, gazing forlornly at the door. Why'd she have to leave him with these big, loud, and really scary dogs? They were so much bigger than him, and they yelled a lot, and it was no fun here-

"C'n he play ball?" Hua said, drawing closer to the little peacock, who had flinched away, still thinking that everyone around him was going to hurt him sooner or later.

"You can see, Hua, but be careful." Ning said, affectionately tussling the pup's fur.

"_Mamaaa.." _Hua whined, squirming out of his mother's grasp. "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

The little wolf pup, without another word, took Shen out to the balcony of the house, gesturing to the ball. "Wanna play?"

Shen, of course, had no idea what the wolf was talking about, choosing instead to look over the small railing at the ground below. "High!" he chirped happily, seemingly unaware that he could quite easily plummet to his death off of the railing. Ah, the joys of being young and naïve…

"Okay, here's th' ball." Hua stated, rolling the ball toward Shen, who did manage to catch it. Unfortunately, the little peacock was completely unfamiliar with the concept of playing ball- that you were really supposed to give the ball back to whoever had handed it to you in the first place.

"Mama, he's hoggin' the ball…" The wolf cub whined, looking to Ning for assistance.

"If he wants it, then he can have it." Ning said, watching with amusement as Shen tripped over the ball before proceeding to bat it around with his beak.

Jin watched the little chick with slightly milder of an interest, but he was still bewildered at the kid's antics. It was a wonder Shen hadn't given himself a concussion by now, what with how many times he tripped over or ran into something. _That kid's seriously going to brutally mutilate himself one day…_ He had to hand it to the kid, he was kind of cute- in an extremely pathetic sort of way.

"Shen, no, darling, don't go up there.." Ning's voice interrupted his chain of thought, and he turned to see Shen climbing up the railing to the balcony, chirping and cooing all the while. Okay, seriously, this kid was just_ begging_ to be killed- it was at least a ten-foot drop from the balcony to the ground, and he'd heard a rumor going around that Shen had brittle bones or something- which was probably complete nonsense, but just to be safe…

"Kid, get off of there!" Unfortunately, Shen decided to do so in the wrong direction. "Oh shi.." Thankful for his fast reflexes now more than ever, Jin leaped forward and grabbed the toddler in his jaws just in the nick of time.

Seemingly not even caring that he was hanging right over open space, Shen twisted around in Jin's jaws, smiling up at the wolf. "Doggieee…"

Jin closed his eyes, a loud groan escaping his mouth. _And people wonder why my fur's prematurely graying._

* * *

><p>The soothsayer was quite pleased with little Shen's progress over the last few days- he was slowly but surely beginning to warm up to the wolf family, although Jin still had a minor sort of lovehate relationship with the hatchling. At least he was no longer as distraught over her disappearances as usual. There were other things that she was concerned about other than that, however.

Shen's coughing fits had become more and more regular, and much more violent, over the past few days. He'd often cough for minutes on end, just trying to clear the bile out of his throat, and though she'd given him the regular medicines they didn't seem to be helping much- and, worse, his fever showed no signs of breaking. The goat was more worried than ever for her young charge, worried that the whispers and the doubts that he would live past his childhood days were finally going to come true.

Jin, however, paid a surprise visit during that time, which did seem to cheer Shen up a bit- if only momentarily, as he was far too sick to be happy about anything. The wolf had even been so kind as to recommend another physician at the far end of town, who had been surprisingly helpful when Hua and Chao had had a small fever. She'd thanked him for his help, and made him leave as politely as possible, before Chao and Hua came rushing in, wanting to see if their friend was getting any better. She'd only managed to get rid of them by telling them that all this stress wasn't going to make Shen feel any better.

Hua, though, despite everyone telling him otherwise, visited the little peacock day in and day out, wanting to know about his condition, how well he was doing, if the medicines were working, etc. No one was happier than the wolf pup when Shen finally recovered.

This was the start of a beautiful- and somewhat dysfunctional- friendship.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> You guys are probably all puking rainbows from baby Shen's cuteness by now... if you are, I do apologize. Shen's kind of based off of me as a baby, actually... I had an obsession with dogs, but I called them "woofs". XD But poor Shen, doesn't he realize that it's a horrible idea to get on a wolf's nerves? Eh, he's gonna be bossing them around sooner or later, anyway.

This chapter- huh, I always wanted to know just how Shen met the wolf pack and everything. And am I the only one who honestly thought that the wolf pack was_ totally_ dysfunctional in the film? That's kind of what I wrote Hua's (who is the future Wolf Boss, by the way) family as- loving, but kinda dysfunctional. I apologize if Jin seems like a total ass in this chapter... he'll warm up to Shen. Eventually. I hope.

The next chapter is going to skip ahead a few years- mostly because I suck at writing from a toddler's point of view. And now, the name translations!

Jin- gold, metal  
>Ning- peaceful, tranquil<br>Chao- surpass  
>Hua- magnificent<p> 


	3. Delightful Children

"Come on, Shen… it'll be next season before we get anywhere." Hua groaned, glancing back at his friend as he did so.

"I can't-huff-walk as fast as you, Hua." Shen panted, coming to a halt.

"This 's the one day that your mum and dad would let us go out, now let's go!" The wolf began to drag the small peacock down the streets none too politely, earning himself squawks of protest from Shen.

"Hua, you're scrapin' all the feathers off my…" The four-year-old prince protested, pouting ever so slightly.

"Look, I have a fun day planned for us, so _come on_!" Hua grunted, trying his best to slow down- there was a two-year age difference between the two, and the wolf cub sometimes had problems with realizing how strong he was, meaning that he could inadvertently injure Shen if he wanted to. "Wanna play hide and seek?"

"Um… can't hide real well, 'member?" Shen stated, gesturing to his white feathers. It was true, his Nana had told him the very same fact- he didn't 'blend in' very well with other things. Maybe when it snowed again, he could hide in the snow drifts- or maybe he would just start coughing again, and Nana would have to drag him to that stupid physician that, for some odd reason, always seemed to want to pinch his cheeks.

"Don't worry, I'll pretend not to find you for a really long time!" Hua stated, his posture drooping a little when he saw his friend looking so down. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"'M different. I'm not like anybody else." Shen muttered, glaring down at his talons.

"How come?"

"I'm not supposed to be white." Shen stated the fact that he'd heard everyone around him repeat for who knew how long, his tiny little crest drooping.

"What's wrong with white? White's cool, it's like snow." Hua exclaimed, his tongue hanging out of his mouth a bit. Shen would have laughed if he hadn't been feeling so sad. "I like snow."

"Peacocks… I dunno, they're not supposed to be white. White's a bad color." The prince stated, just growing even more melancholy as he did so- his parents had said that he was a bad color, his own _parents _said that he wouldn't live very long because he was always getting sick- but it wasn't his fault he was sick, why couldn't they see that? He wanted to grow up, he wanted to be strong and healthy and powerful like his dad was…

Even now, he could hear the little rabbit children whispering to each other about his color, saying how he was a bad omen, that the royal family must have done something bad for Shen to turn out the way he was- since when were colors bad? Lowering his head and trying his best to shield his face with his tiny wings, Shen started forward on the long road back to the palace.

"Shen? What's goin'..."

"I wanna go home." Shen grumbled, his tiny little feathers beginning to raise from anger and sadness, and mild jealousy. No one cared if the_ rabbits_ were different colors, because rabbits were supposed to be different. But the minute a_ peacock_ was born a different color than he should've been, news of it spread like a wildfire, and then the whispers started…

Oh gods, the rabbits were actually following him now, and Shen had to use every ounce of what little self-control he had to not hiss at them. Why couldn't everybody just take a hint and leave him alone, for once? He knew he was different, they didn't have to come and rub his face in it. Oh, great, there were pigs with them too. Everyone just wanted him riled up today, didn't they? _Oh, joy, the gods hate me. _

"He really is white, isn't he?"

"Shut up, who cares if he's white? I don't care that you're grey." A feminine voice rang out from the group.

"You know, Shen means 'deep thought'… hey, my mom said so, she said that all he thinks about is how different he is…"

Shen inwardly groaned to himself, trying to pick up the pace and leave the crowd behind him. _Oh gods, shut up shut up shut UP…_

"Maybe we should ask him why he's white…"

"Don't you _dare, _guys…"

"I'm not gonna make fun of him, sheesh, I just wanna ask why he's white."

"All of you, shut up! It's not his fault if he's different!" Shen turned to see a small antelope scolding the rest of the children. "Now quit bothering him- don't you guys have something better to do?"

As the rest of the children slowly but surely cleared off, the prince could do nothing but gape in astonishment. That may have been the first time in his life that someone had stuck up for him- or had she just wanted them to clear off so she could pick on him herself?

"Sorry about that, those guys are jerks…" The female stated, walking over to Shen. "You must be Prince Shen- or is it Lord Shen? I've heard…" she stated, stopping herself before she could say the rest of the sentence.

Oh, great, she'd heard about what a freak he was. Just great. "Nah, it's… err… Prince Shen, nice to meet you." Hey, contrary to popular belief, he_ did_ pay attention in his etiquette lessons- albeit, only to things that he really thought would be important, but still. Maybe if the room where he was taught wasn't so stuffy, and the teacher didn't drone on and on about one single subject for ten minutes at a time, he would have a better time concentrating…

"Well, I'm Ling, by the way. Nice to meet you too." The antelope said, firmly shaking Shen's wing, to the point where it felt like the whole limb was going to fall off. "You want me to find your Nana… she's the goat, right?"

Shen only nodded- this had to be a trick, no one except for Hua had ever been this nice to him before…

"Well, I could find her, and then she'll take you home."

No one would whisper at him while Nana was around, but how long would it take to find her? Shen didn't want to spend more time than he had to in this blasted city, so he decided against it. "I think I can find my own way, thanks." he hissed sarcastically, whipping around and stalking off. You couldn't really miss the Tower of Sacred Flame, after all- it was the biggest darn building in the whole city, for crying out loud.

"Well… uh, see you tomorrow, I guess… you know, if you're here…" Ling deadpanned before spinning on her heel and going the way she had come.

* * *

><p>He was sick again, as much as he didn't want to be. Shen rolled over in his bed, groaning loudly- oh, gods, his head <em>hurt<em>… maybe if he just laid still and tried to think about other things, the sickness would go away on its own…

Bile rose up into his throat, causing him to let out a few shaky coughs. _Or not. _

The soothsayer came into the room, carrying a small vial full of medicine. "Feeling any better, dear?"

No, he wasn't feeling any better, he felt awful, for the love of the gods…

"Open up, dear." Nana instructed, holding the small spoon of medicine out to him.

"Dun' want to." Shen retorted, stubbornly clamping his beak shut. "I wanna go out… I promised Hua I'd be better by now…"

"You're not going to get any better if you don't take your medicine. Hua will wait for you, I promise." she stated, smiling down at him before gently but firmly forcing his beak open, plopping the medicine in.

Shen fought against his gag reflex with all his might- the medicine tasted awful, despite the goat's attempt to make it sweeter by adding sugar to the mixture. But she was right, it was going to make him better… so he decided to (rather reluctantly) swallow it, laying back down in bed with a small shudder.

He decided to ask his Nana the question that had been lingering in his mind ever since a few days ago… "Why am I different?"

The soothsayer hesitated for a moment before replying. "Why do you ask, Shen?"

"'Cause I heard Mama and Baba saying so… I'm not supposed to be white, and I get sick a lot because of that, and I'm not gonna live for very long… but I wanna grow up… I'm not gonna die, am I?" The young prince suddenly looked much more terrified than he had a minute ago.

"Of course you're not." The goat stated, although she had her own doubts about how long Shen was going to live- the poor child seemed to get sick every five minutes…

"But none of the other peacocks are white." Shen muttered, sniffling a bit.

"Life would be rather boring if everyone was the same." she replied, smiling. "Your differences make you who you are. Now rest up, I'll come and check on you in a few hours. If you're feeling better by then, we'll see about letting you out in the courtyard." With that, the goat departed.

Shen pondered over this for a moment, absent-mindedly glancing out the window. Nana was right, he didn't any of the other kids, with their stupid whispering about his color. Hua and Chao were the only ones who understood him, they didn't need the rabbits, pigs, or even that annoying antelope girl. They were all jerks, he'd show them all someday.

He wasn't going to die anytime soon. Not if he could help it, at least.

* * *

><p>Shen's parents had finally agreed to let the young prince and Hua play in the courtyard, and the lord and lady smiled as they watched the trio run around playing some sort of game, where one person would be the hero and the other two were bandits, and whoever was the hero had to run and catch them.<p>

"You'll never catch us!"

"You'll never invade the city again, dogs!" Shen teased as he ran in a circle, trying his best to catch the wolves. Unfortunately, the fact that Hua and Chao could run so much faster than him kind of took the fun out of the game, so he finally resorting to tackling the two to the ground.

"Hey, you're cheating…" Chao whined, glancing up at Shen.

"Yeah, well, I won, didn't I?" he retorted, half-heartily glaring down at them.

"Let's play tag, then!" Hua barked, leaping up and tapping Chao on the shoulder. "You're it!"

"No fair, 'm always it…"

Ah, the joys of being young and carefree… little did Shen know that he would learn many, many years later just what misfortune meant- and would be the cause of a great deal of it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Yes, that is the Ling that Shen develops a minor, kinda creepy crush on later... (might have briefly mentioned her in Vengeful Love). I do hope the four-year-old speech isn't too distracting- he'll start speaking formally soon enough, trust me.

This whole chapter is kind of based off of Shen having trouble making friends- besides, I don't think he was very self-confident when he was a kid, so that could turn into a sort of 'bullying others' thing- hmm, I wonder. That feeling of being alone as a child is just going to catch up with him in the long run. Poor, friendless Shen. :(

This chapter is really a lot more dialogue-heavy than the first two, simply because I did want to define Shen and Hua's personalities a bit more- hey, no little kid is going to be _completely_ evil. And yes, the title of this chapter is totally a reference to Shifu's quote in "Secrets of the Furious Five".

Ling- alert, quick (XD, perfect for an antelope)


	4. Fireworks

For once, there was good news surrounding the peacock family- Shen was about to celebrate his fifth birthday, and though there were still doubts about just how long the prince was going to survive before a disease cut him down, they were getting few and far between as the months wore on. There were still whispers about his color- and there probably always would be, since there were no other white peacocks aside from Princess Chang, Shen's cousin that, as of the moment, he had yet to meet.

Nobody could be happier than Lord Fu and Lady Hai- although they didn't get to see their son much due to royal duties, they were still glad that their son had managed to survive for this long, despite whispers from Bo, who had become the family physician over time- and toward whom Shen had developed a minor love/hate relationship. The antelope was trying his best to make him feel better, the tiny peacock understood that, but his medicines were so _disgusting, _not to mention the fact that he always seemed to smell like rotting plants.

But he did just so happen to be Ling's father, and even though the two had gotten off to a somewhat shaky start, they quickly became friends- much to Hua's chagrin and mild jealousy. Shen had reassured him, though, that nothing and no one could ever replace his friend, and the wolf cub had seemed to calm down after that. Still, he never hesitated to shoot the antelope girl a dirty look, or stick his tongue out at her, whenever she came to pay Shen a visit, to which her only response would be to roll her eyes and continue chatting with just as much enthusiasm as ever.

In fact, they were chatting at this very moment, while Hua sat sulking in the corner.

"Wow, your fifth birthday. Must feel pretty special." Ling commented, her chocolate eyes fixed on Shen's red.

"Nah, it's not that special." Shen muttered, sheepishly glancing down at his feet.

"Well, I hope you have a good one. I gotta go home, Dad's gonna teach me how to mix poultices…"

"Show-off." Hua scoffed, rolling his eyes, and a quiet hiss from Shen was quick at silencing him.

"Nana says she's gonna take me somewhere as a surprise…" Shen boasted, puffing up his feathers a bit from excitement.

"You're _so_ lucky, Dad never lets me go out around the city. Well, have a good birthday, Shen! I'll see you later!" Ling yelled over her shoulder as she sprinted out of the palace gates.

"Bye, Ling!" he returned, then turned to watch a beetle that was crawling its way over the cobblestone.

"She's crazy." Hua muttered, batting a piece of grass back and forth between his paws.

"She's not that bad…" Shen retorted, his tiny little crown raising a bit from exasperation. Honestly, would it_ kill_ Hua to actually get along with someone for more than five seconds at a time? Accidentally crushing the beetle as he did so, Shen sat up politely as he saw the soothsayer walking in his direction, but the moment she got over to him he started pelting her with questions. "Where are we going? Is it gonna be fun?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't exactly be a surprise, my prince." The goat intoned, smiling down at him. "I suppose it will be fun…"

"Can Hua come?" Shen asked, gesturing over to where the wolf cub was still sulking by the courtyard wall.

"If he behaves, than of course he can come." she replied, holding back a smirk as Hua sat up and leapt over toward them, beaming all the while.

"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou, I'll be really really good, I swear.." he exclaimed, looking up at the duo. "Well, are we goin' or what?"

Laughing at the wolf's antics, Shen and the soothsayer set off with Hua taking the lead, bouncing around and talking all the while, and only a small and stern look from the goat managed to calm him down.

* * *

><p>Shen still didn't know much about the world- after all, he was only four years old(if only temporarily), and still had a lot to learn about how the city worked. One thing he did know for sure, however- they were lost. Hopelessly lost. Not that he blamed his Nana- it was ridiculously easy to get turned around in a city as big as Gongmen, with its winding streets and narrow alleys- and she still seemed rather confident that sooner or later, they would end up in the right spot.<p>

Hua became increasingly exasperated as the afternoon wore on- couldn't the soothsayer use her 'physic powers' to see where the building that they were going to was? Shen had, somewhat angrily, reminded him that the goat could only see the_ future- _she'd told him herself- not where they were supposed to be going, and only a great deal of self-control had prevented him from pushing the wolf out of the rickshaw that they later resorted to riding in.

They finally arrived at whatever destination they'd been sent to, and Hua gaped up at it, ears flat in astonishment. "Wow… the fireworks factory! Man, I've always always _always _wanted to go here!"

"What's a firework?" Shen asked- yes, he had seen the exploding lights of color from his bedroom window every now and then, but he'd never bothered to connect the word with the object.

"Man, you_ really_ need to get out more." Hua replied, making Shen bristle a bit from exasperation- he couldn't get out, he was sick all the time, couldn't the wolf understand that? Matter of fact, he'd actually managed to miss Hua's last birthday, since he'd been confined to bed with one whopper of a stomach virus.

Opening his beak to deliver what surely would have been a fairly scathing retort, Shen was interrupted by the soothsayer ushering him inside the small building, where she reassured him that his parents would be waiting. The inside of the building was actually remarkably hot and stuffy, a big change from the coolness of outdoors. Sparks flew into the air, bellows chugging in the background. The goat kept a wary eye on the small peacock trudging along beside her, head swiveling to take in all the sights and sounds of the factory. At the first sign that his lungs were starting to get aggravated from the smoke and sparks, she'd rush him out of there.

Shen and Hua were having the time of their lives, though, running around from the safety of the observation platforms to observe the work. "Wait'll I tell Chao about this!" the wolf cub cried at odd intervals, jumping around- he even once pretended to fall off the platform into the bellows below, much to the soothsayer's chagrin and Shen's amusement. It was only when Hua accidentally lit one of the sparklers that was laying around that they ran into some problems, because he had- completely by accident- lit one right in front of Shen.

Of course, the four-year-old bird had no idea as to what was going on- he only knew that it was something hot and scary and dangerous and oh gods it was coming after him… ducking behind the goat who was still standing with a rather amused expression in the corner, he let out a small caw of distress, only to glare at Hua when he started chuckling to himself. "What?"

Hua managed to force out words between his hysterical laughter. "You… were running… from a sparkler. Oh, man…"

"Shut up!" Shen hissed. "How was I supposed to know…" He was interrupted by both of his parents walking in, smiling at him- and just in the nick of time to keep him from lunging at the stupid wolf.

"Happy birthday, Shen." Lady Hai announced, smiling down at Shen. So, this was to be this birthday present? Well, he was just fine with that, other than the fact that Hua had gone and lit a _sparkler_ right in his face…

For the next hour or so, Shen was taken on a tour of the factory by his parents, learning the process of making the fireworks, what went into them- which the lord and lady tried to explain in a way that would be easy for a four(going on five)- year-old to understand. They also explained the folklore and origins of the fireworks, which was what Shen seemed to be the most interested in. He even asked if the fireworks could be used for other things than just for enjoyment- say, weapons or sources of power for something.

The lord and lady had reassured him, however, that the city had been at peace for many years now, so there would be no need to use the beloved fireworks as weapons. They did question the general safety of using a firework to power something- after all, the gunpowder inside of them was highly explosive, so it was likely to blow up whatever it was trying to power. Shen had seen the problems with the second option, but he still dwelled on the first option long after the factory tour. Just because the city was at peace now, didn't mean that it always would be, so who was to say that fireworks couldn't be used as weapons?

* * *

><p>Shen, after the factory tour, had somehow managed to run into Ling again, telling her all about what he'd seen at the factory- though, he purposefully left out the details of getting the living daylights scared out of him by a sparkler, for dignity's sake. The trio had proceeded to play hide-and-seek in the courtyard, though Hua had quickly been spotted cheating in his role of seeker, which had- if only temporarily- removed him from the game. Shen, who was still a bit irked at the wolf for teasing him at the factory, had proceeded to half-heartily push him into a thorn bush, earning himself a fierce tongue-lashing from the soothsayer.<p>

After the rousing game, Shen had found that his immune system was no longer holding up to the vigor of their game of tag. His Nana knew the warning signs of sickness better than anyone, and had rushed him inside and laid him in bed, much to the chagrin of the young prince. She'd even fed him the usual medicine, despite his protests of feeling fine- which still tasted as awful as ever. The prince had fallen into a deep sleep afterwards, having a quite strange nightmare afterwards.

_He was standing in the middle of a village, and it was burning. Burning like the sparks from the bellows, only this fire was bigger and hotter, more dangerous. He could have sworn that he heard screaming off in the distance, though it was too far away to tell which direction it was coming from. There were wolves swarming all around him- why were they here, were they bandits or assassins? Or was someone leading them? Maybe if he could just find the leader of the pack- despite having no fighting experience whatsoever… _

_Then he was shoved into the fire by someone or something, and oh gods it burned, who would dare to do this to a prince? He tried to get out, fought and screamed and kicked, but the fire kept swallowing him whole- and just before it completely consumed him, he could have sworn that he saw tail feathers flare out from the corner of his vision. White tail feathers. _

He woke up to the soothsayer's hand on his back, asking him to wake up and come outside so he could see his birthday gift. He did so, but only because he was terrified of what he'd see if he fell asleep again. Stepping out onto the balcony of the palace, Shen watched with delight as fireworks exploded into the air- first small ones, then bigger and bigger until they seemed to fill up the whole sky with their color and brightness.

"Happy birthday, my Prince." The goat said, smiling down at him- but Shen wasn't listening, he was only staring in awe up at the exploding balls of light and color. They were so pretty, in all their different colors, and for once seeing something that was a normal color didn't sadden or infuriate him. For once, it didn't remind him that he was different, a freak of nature, and he always would be, no matter what he did to try and change it. Yet as he stared up at the sky, at the fireworks, he only felt immense happiness welling up inside of him.

This was the beginning of an obsession, an obsession that would only serve to lead him deeper into the darkness that would slowly but surely consume him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Hey, gotta establish Shen's obsession with fireworks somewhere along the line, right? What better way to do it than to kinda take a family tour of the whole factory? (And yes, it is the one right next to the palace, not the one that's hidden in the mountains somewhere. This is _before_ his exile, silly readers.)

Yes, the dream with the village burning is kind of foreshadowing the future for him. Yes, I know, right now he's terrified of it, but he's going to be... _devilishly_ excited when it finally rolls around. ;)

Oh, and I also noticed that this story was recently recommended by Domenic in "The Life and Times of Lord Shen"- which is another awesome 'Shen origin' fanfic, so if you haven't read it yet, you should definitely go check it out.


	5. Kung Fu

It was around a month or so (or was it more than that, Shen could never keep track of the time) after his fifth birthday that his parents started having long conversations to themselves at night, and the young prince had a funny feeling that they were talking about him again, talking about his stupid, abnormal coloration that was different from any other peacock's, or maybe once again voicing their concerns about just how long his life expectancy was supposed to be. He'd tried to listen in on their conversations once or twice- Shen had never been one for eavesdropping, but in this case he'd make an exception. Unfortunately, when you were the only white thing in a palace full of red, yellow, and other such bright colors, it was insanely easy for other people to notice you.

Shen had found this out the hard way the first time he'd tried hiding himself in the corridor, poking his little head around the doorway at odd intervals to check in on the conversation. Lord Fu had been the first to hear the retreating clack of talons upon tile after the conclusion of the talk, and he'd been quick to give Shen a stern lecture about the consequences of eavesdropping, trying his best not to flare his enormous tail feathers right in the young prince's face. After all, unnecessarily losing his temper around his only son would generally be frowned upon. He'd only gotten another tongue-lashing from the soothsayer when he returned to his bedroom, stubbornly resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at her, knowing that it would only get him into more trouble.

Soon after, his parents had sat him down to have a talk with him. It had been decided that he would begin taking kung fu lessons with Master Thundering Rhino in addition to his normal studies, and when he had asked why, they'd told him that not all of a future lord's life was based around royal duties- he also had to learn how to defend himself. Shen had reluctantly agreed to the conditions, not sure how he would like being taught things by a creature that was so much bigger than him. Oh, sure, the old, limping goat who taught him his etiquette lessons was all right, he was only a foot or so taller than the young prince, but being taught by a full-grown rhino may have been pushing it a bit. Not that the young peacock wasn't a fan of kung fu, but still.

So, here he was, sullenly following his Nana to the small kung fu academy on the edge of town. "Do I really hafta do this, Nana?"

"It would be rude to go against your parents' wishes, my prince. " The goat said, smiling at him. "I'm sure it will be fun."

Yeah, it would be fun, all right. And his uncle was a catfish.

Absent-mindedly clawing at the dirt, he didn't even notice the rhino coming up behind him until a thunderous voice spoke up from behind him. "Prince Shen?"

"Eeeep!" Shen cried out, jumping back a whole foot as his tiny tail feathers flared up. When he saw the rhinoceros looming over him, it only served to magnify his fears, as he hurriedly scurried to hide behind his caretaker. "Dun' wanna go with him…"

"Now, Shen, I'm sure it will be fine…" she intoned, bending down to affectionately ruffle his head feathers.

"But he's so _big_…."

"Our species is not exactly known for our small statures. I apologize for frightening you, Shen." The rhino spoke, offering a heartfelt apology to the startled young prince, whose only reaction was to narrow his eyes up at the kung fu master. Well, at least he was actually bothering to be polite, unlike some of the other people Shen had met.

"I'll be back soon, Shen. In the mean time, behave yourself." With that, the goat had gathered her belongings and left, leaving behind a very bewildered Shen. Of course he'd behave, she didn't need to point it out to him- but only because he was slightly afraid of what the rhinoceros would do to him if he didn't.

"If you would follow me, Shen…" Thundering Rhino spoke, ushering him through the doors of the academy as gently as possible. Part of Shen wanted to rebel at being told what to do and where to go, but the old rhino was technically going to be his 'master' for however long it took him to learn kung fu, so he might as well go along with it for the time-being.

"So, what're we gonna learn?" The young prince piped up, from where he was skipping along with somewhat more of a cheery manner than when he had first arrived at the academy.

"I thought we might start out with the basic stances, and work our way up from there." Thundering Rhino stated, smiling down at Shen. In all honesty, the rhino was still trying to figure out which style would best suit Shen- he hadn't taught a member of the peacock family since Lord Fu was young, and who knew how long ago that was? The rhino figured that starting with the basics of kung fu would be as good a place to start as any, and once Shen excelled in those he'd look farther into the different styles.

So, for the next hour or so, Shen was taught the basics of kung fu- the proper terminology for all the moves, how to properly do the honorary bow that began and ended every lesson, and the basic 'ready' stance. He was also introduced to Storming Ox and Croc- while the ox seemed to regard Shen with the same stoic emotion he displayed towards all the students, he was the one that Shen seemed to warm up to the quickest. The young peacock still wasn't sure about Croc- he'd never liked reptiles very much, and the fact that this one could quite easily swallow him whole was a bit unnerving.

However, he did start to slowly but surely warm up to Master Thundering Rhino, despite the rhino's hulking size and looming presence, and when the soothsayer finally came to retrieve him he was rather reluctant to leave. Only her assuring him that he'd be back tomorrow soon enough put him at ease.

Shen was quite eager to show Hua, Chao, and Ling what he'd learned, and so he preformed a mock sort of battle to their delight and slight chagrin, making up techniques as he went. Although his so-called 'style' was fairly sloppy at its best- he had only learned the basics of kung fu, after all- it never failed to prompt laughs from the trio. He'd asked them for their opinions on the 'battle', and they'd been only too happy to tell Shen _exactly_ what they thought of his sloppy routine.

"Err…well…your timing needs some work…" Ling managed to choke out between hysterical fits of laughter.

"I think_ everything_ needs work." Hua snickered, and Chao was quick to agree. Only Ling's swifty intervention prevented Shen from leaping upon the canines to teach them the lesson of a lifetime.

* * *

><p>So it was that, over the next few months, Shen trained under the watchful eye of the kung fu masters- it had been decided that he'd be trained in the style of Cai Li Fao, as Thundering Rhino had thought that it was the style best suited to Shen's needs. Not to say that he wouldn't hesitate to try a different style if the prince seemed at all tired or unable to perform the moves, goodness knows what would happen if he allowed Shen to get sick during a sparring session. But he was pleased with how the young peacock was progressing, and he did try to be patient and gentle with Shen when he got a move wrong or wasn't quite balanced in the right way.<p>

Shen was a fast learner, as it turned out, and always eager to learn more about the different styles, defensive moves, and the like- sometimes the rhino thought that the kid was a little too curious for his own good. Ox and Croc would sometimes take over the training sessions, and though Ox was a bit less patient with Shen than Thundering Rhino had been, the young prince seemed to like training with him. Though, to be frank, he still wasn't entirely sure about Croc, and only the reptile's promise that he hadn't eaten a bite of meat in who knew how long finally seemed to put him at ease. The distrust reared its ugly head once more when he'd learned that Croc was a former bandit, but the reptile had said that he'd changed since then, so Shen was more than willing to give him a chance.

The two did give constructive criticism as much as they could, however, even if it was the same things he'd been hearing from the rhino- 'bring your leg up a bit higher', 'move this wing so you'll balance better', and dare I say even the infamous 'your timing needs some work'. Shen was trying his best, he really was, but for some reason he just couldn't move as fast as the other students at the academy. They had contented him with the fact that his speed would improve with time, but Shen was still mildly disappointed at this factor.

Little did he know that he was well on his way to becoming a seasoned, and perhaps even lethal, kung fu master.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Yes, I know this chapter is pitifully short. They'll get longer, I promise. Anywho, this is the chapter that Shen goes to learn kung fu with the Masters in the city- hey, he had to learn that epic style of his somewhere, right?

Thundering Rhino, actually, was surprisingly hard to write for, I couldn't decide if I wanted him to be more fatherly or kind of stern towards Shen. I opted for a mix of the two, and I certainly hope I did him justice. You don't really see too much of him in the movie before Shen kills him, so you can't really get much of his personality out of that. Why do the rhinos always die first in the KFP universe...

And Shen not warming up to Croc- eh, apparently Shen just has something against reptiles, since he's a total jerkwad towards Xun in 'Vengeful Love' at first. *shot*


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